STAMFORD -- In a city driven by redevelopment, the 4-acre empty lot at the corner of Tresser Boulevard and Greyrock Place known as the "hole in the ground" has come to represent the crowning downtown project that never was.

It may also turn out to be the biggest indictment against the Urban Redevelopment Commission, Stamford's designated redevelopment agency, which was charged with filling the hole since the site was first razed more than 40 years ago as part of urban renewal. Like other redevelopment agencies, the URC may use eminent domain in the name of economic development as well as issue special bonds to pay for public improvements in urban renewal districts.

Using eminent domain, the URC has performed a complete overhaul of the downtown that includes the mall and a corporate center that drives the city's economy. That it came at the expense of hundreds of displaced residents and businesses and resulted in a bulky architectural style that marginalizes pedestrians is an often-cited fault. But overall, most agree that Stamford would not be what it is without the URC.

Yet now, just as the redevelopment plan for the "hole in the ground" and other surrounding parcels known as the southeast quadrant has come up for its state-mandated 10-year review by the Board of Representatives, a debate is unfolding in City Hall about the future of the powerful urban redevelopment agency.

In the next few weeks, the city's governance task force is expected to come out with a report on the agency.

John Mallozzi, a task force member and a city representative who served as a commissioner on the URC in the early 1980s, said one overarching question was, "Does Stamford in this century need a URC?"

He pointed to Harbor Point, a $3.5 billion, 80-acre mixed-use waterfront development that was initiated by a private developer and which has been credited with revitalizing a long-depressed area.

"The South End developed by itself," Mallozzi said. "It didn't need the URC."

Although Mallozzi did not comment on what the task force's recommendation would be, one person close to the process said the URC was "on the chopping block."

Whispers about the agency started last summer when Mayor Michael Pavia in an editorial board meeting with The Advocate cited the URC as an example of why a governance task force was needed to reexamine the city's boards and commissions.

"Has it satisfied its mission, and does it need to continue?" Pavia asked.

The skepticism is largely due to the fact that the agency, which has development authority over key sections of the downtown, has been noticeably dormant over the past decade. Park Square West, a massive housing and retail development on several parcels north of West Park Place between Atlantic Street and Washington Boulevard, stalled after only one of the four residential buildings were built in 2001. The so-called "Archstone" project, a dazzling residential development on Washington Boulevard that was supposed to serve as the gateway to Mill River Park, fell apart in 2009 after the developer Archstone was swept up in the housing crash.

It has not helped that developers have been said to be wary of working with the URC, which has often had sway over a project's design. Projects must additionally go through the city's Zoning Board, amounting to an arduous and expensive zoning approval process. The fact that the URC and Zoning Board have traditionally not "played nicely together," according to one observer, has also discouraged developers from having to work with both groups.

The URC's perceived lack of transparency and accountability has also been raised. Meetings about ongoing developments are often held in executive sessions under the argument that the talks involve contract negotiations, leaving the public with little or no information on the status. The agency's finances are kept separate from the city. It generates roughly $540,000 from parking fees on land it owns and consultant work it performs for the city and employs three full-time employees who are hired by the commissioners.

Lately, the URC has spent most of its time spearheading "Reinventing Stamford," a series of civic forums designed to spark ideas about where the city should be headed. Although the initiative last year helped create a regional consortium that gave the city a piece of a $3.5 million federal transportation grant, some saw the effort as beyond the scope of the URC.

Yet choosing to unwind a more than 50-year-old development agency, governed by state statute and decades-old agreements with the federal government, may not be so simple.

"It is not legally or financially possible or desirable to dissolve the URC or fold it into another city agency," said Kip Bergstrom, the URC's executive director, adding that he tried to explain these issues to the task force but was not permitted to present them adequately.

One of the reasons often given by URC officials is that the city would be obligated to give back about $15 million worth of federal grants that it has received over the years, a claim that some have challenged as implausible.

Bergstrom said he has scheduled a meeting with the mayor on Tuesday to brief him on the legal and financial implications.

Even critics of the URC have made a case to keep the agency, arguing that it is an important instrument for a city to have to ensure orderly developments. In the case of UBS, for instance, the URC used its eminent domain power to assemble the parcels needed for its headquarters, allowing Stamford to add a major corporation to its tax rolls.

Bergstrom believes the task force has missed the real question. "It's not how do you dissolve the URC, it's how do you make it a more powerful vehicle to drive the mayor's vision."

According to the state statute, the agency's five members serve "at the pleasure" of the mayor, meaning that he can reappoint them at will and assert some measure of control. Since taking office, however, Pavia has only made one appointment to the URC.

Despite his defense of the URC, Bergstrom himself will not be around to reinvent it.

Bergstrom accepted a position two weeks ago to join Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration to run the state's Commission on Culture and Tourism.

Staff Writer Elizabeth Kim can be reached at elizabeth.kim@scni.com or 203-964-2265.